1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image correction apparatus, method and program. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus, method and program for performing a white-balance correction.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-152772, gray or skin-color pixels contained in an input image are detected and the color temperature of the light source used in photography is estimated using color information obtained from the gray or skin-color pixels detected.
According to the method of the above-mentioned specification, a gray pixel or skin-color pixel is detected using only the color information of this pixel. There is a possibility, therefore, that a pixel corresponding to a color temperature that differs from that of the light source at the time of photography will be extracted erroneously as a gray pixel or skin-color pixel. Further, since the correction of white balance is premised on detection of gray or skin-color pixels, it is impossible to perform the white-balance correction if the image does not contain gray or skin-color pixels.